Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle with Cucumber and Lemon

8.31.2012

To anyone else except the FFWD group, this is just a
plate piled with unfathomable green and white stuff. To us it´s a lovely salad,
Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle with Cucumber and Lemon. In my case it should be
zucchini and cucumber tagliatelle because I made faux pasta with both
vegetables.

So, say you want to eat healthier and lighter. Well,
recipes like this can fool you into feeling you are having a great and succulent meal. For a
while at least, then you might dive into the broken potatoes and steak you also
made, or the strawberry tart that´s sitting pretty outside in the terrace
waiting to be shot for the Sunday post, the same terrace where you´re enthusiastically eating said
salad. It is a good recipe mind you, though sweltering weather would probably
be mandatory before attempting to have it for lunch. By itself.

I had never made ribbons, though they appear profusely
almost everywhere from TV shows to blogs to restaurants. I used a vegetable
peeler and it really takes a minute. And they are so cute!

So the zucchini and cucumber tagliatelle first, then
some chopped onion, which in my case where green onions, a few gratings of
lemon zest (was there a zesting life before the microplane? It doesn´t seem
that way), some lemon juice, salt, pepper, chopped mint and, in my case, olive
oil and chopped toasted pistachios. The original recipe calls for pistachio oil…
let´s not even discuss it, shall we?

After looking at the final plate and thinking that I had completely missed some
ingredients, which I had not, the final result was crunchy, fresh, just about
everything I expected. I had even remembered that it had to stand
for 1 hour in the fridge after everything was mixed.

Well, I completely
disagree. I made it twice and the second time I made the ribbons, salted them a
bit and left them for half an hour in the fridge. I then drained the extra
water, continued with the recipe and ate it immediately. They were much better.
Still crunchy and the flavors were all distinguishable and harmonious at the same time.

No watery
mess in the bottom of the plate. And another key ingredient for me was the black
pepper. Lots of it. Worked perfectly with the lemon and the nuts.

This is a lovely salad for a summer barbecue. Or to have on top of some quinoa, like Cher suggests.

I don't know why I didn't think of the vegetable peeler, seeing yours make it look perfect. I bought anew gadget off the TV for chopping, slicing, etc. awhile back and after trying to slice these zucchinis, I'mwondering why I wasted the money. I ended up with short pieces of zucchini and more work to clean up.Sometimes the simple way turns out to be the easiest. Your salad looks great and very refreshing. Havea great weekend.

Paula, I should have used a vegetable peeler…I used a v-slicer but the strips were still too thick! I was not a fan of this salad. I found it flat and bland. Glad you enjoyed it…I think I’d opt for the strawberry tart! Have a great weekend!

Maybe if I had made it twice and been nicer to it, I would have developed a liking for this salad. You made so many good excuses for this salad, Paula, and t-r-i-e-d to make it sound good, but it just didn't work for me. There are so many other ways to use those good vegetables but, with this salad, no. Give me the steak and potatoes and strawberry tart anytime.

I just love seeing how people change things up a bit. My goal is always to make the recipe as close as possible to the way it is written just so that I can see how the author intended it to be...then the next time I make it I invariably change it up. When I see all these things that people do, it gives great inspiration for making it again soon with some of those change ups! Yours is gorgeous, I love the idea of treating the cucumber as you did.

I like your take on this salad -I would love this for dinner and probably throw chicken on the grill for my husband who has to have meat with his veggies! I would be very happy to have a salad followed by a strawberry tart, even could skip the salad and go straight to the tart!

Vegetable peeler!!! What a great idea! My 'ribbons' were coming out looking like slabs of zucchini so I went with another setting on my contraption that turned it into spaghetti thin strips. I am kicking myself for not thinking of a vegetable peeler! I'm so impressed with that tip!!!Great photo!